It was a Tuesday night in March, the 16th to be exact. A little more than one month after reaching agreement to purchase 60 percent of the Rams from Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez for $450 million, Shahid Khan was in Denver as a guest of Rams part-owner E. Stanley Kroenke. His real first name is Enos, by the way.

They attended a Denver Nuggets game, the NBA team Kroenke owns. For part of the game, they were at courtside. Kroenke and Khan were in the locker room after the game, and Kroenke introduced Khan to some members of the Denver media.

This is going well, Khan probably believed. His goal was to have Kroenke stay and become his partner with the Rams. Kroenke apparently had other plans. A few days later, he was part of the Rams’ contingent in Orlando at the NFL annual meeting. Was Kroenke laying the groundwork during those days in Orlando for his power move or testing the waters for his ultimate decision?

Perhaps. What we do know is that Kroenke surprised Khan Monday with his announced intention to exercise his right of first refusal on Khan’s purchase and become sole owner of the team. Monday was the deadline for Kroenke to make his intentions known.

A release to the media was sent from Tomago Collins with an email address associated with the Pepsi Center, the Denver arena that Kroenke also owns. Collins is the vice president of media and player development for the Nuggets. It said: "We are pleased to announce that we have exercised our right to purchase the remaining interest in the St. Louis Rams football team under the terms of our Partnership Agreement.
“We have enjoyed our involvement in the National Football League since our original expansion efforts beginning in 1993 and our subsequent 15-year partnership with the Rams.

“We look forward to working with the Rosenbloom family and the NFL. We will respect the league and its processes in our efforts to complete this transaction.”

How surprised was Khan? He played it straight in the statement he released: "On Feb. 10, 2010, Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez granted me a great honor -- the opportunity to purchase the controlling interest in the St. Louis Rams that has been held by their family for 57 years. I entered into that agreement knowing that Mr. Kroenke could attempt to purchase that interest on the same terms. Earlier this evening, Stan advised me that he was going to pursue that opportunity.
"I have had the chance to get to know Stan over the past 60 days. As I told Stan during our conversation earlier this evening, I enjoy his company, admire his success in sports and certainly respect his right to try to purchase the Rosenbloom family's interest in the Rams.

"While the decision about ownership now rests in the hands of the NFL and its owners, my dedication to the league, the Rams, their fans and the St. Louis community is as strong as ever. Accordingly, I have advised Chip and Lucia that I intend to remain bound by our agreement and to conclude the purchase if the opportunity presents itself. In the meantime, I look forward to learning of Billy Devaney's pick on the evening of April 22."
A statement from Rosenbloom said: "Today we received notice that Stan Kroenke has exercised his right of first refusal under the St. Louis Rams Partnership Agreement to purchase the Rosenbloom family's controlling interest in the team. We and our advisers will work with the National Football League as we move forward with the objective of completing a transaction for the sale of our interest in the Rams."

Absent from any of these statements, especially from Kroenke, is what his next step is in gaining majority control of the Rams. By owning the Nuggets and NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, Kroenke is prohibited by NFL rules from being majority owner of an NFL team in another market. The questions everyone is asking are:

Does he plan to challenge NFL cross-ownership rules? Will he sell the Nuggets and Avalanche? Does he have something up his sleeve where he would transfer ownership of those teams to family members? Kroenke’s son, Josh, a former basketball player at Missouri, is currently vice president of player development for the Nuggets.

No one from the NFL was available for comment Monday night, but the league has made it clear it is unlikely cross-ownership rules would be changed to accommodate Kroenke. Even if there were owners that believe the rule is outdated, the apparent reality is that they wouldn’t go against the wishes of Denver Broncos owner Patrick Bowlen.

At that league meeting in Orlando, when commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about a potential change of the rule or an exception for Kroenke, he said, “Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it, but I don’t think so. I think everyone understands we’re going to respect our policies and make sure we treat everyone the same. We have great respect for Stan, and he has to make some choices. But he also understands the league wants to continue to have policies that we think are beneficial to the league in general and fair to all 32 clubs.”

In the past, the NFL changed the rule regarding NFL owners having majority ownership stakes in other teams when it allowed Wayne Huizenga to own both the NFL’s Miami Dolphins and major league baseball’s Florida Marlins. But that’s different from an NFL majority owner competing in another city against another league owner.
It isn’t known whether the NFL would view a restructuring of ownership of the NBA and NHL teams to family members as being in compliance with the cross-ownership rules.

Meanwhile, Kroenke’s decision left some wondering why he didn’t simply buy the rest of the team when Rosenbloom and Rodriguez placed it on the market last May or even before it officially went on the market. The simple reality is that it wouldn’t make business sense to try and outbid other suitors, especially in what is considered a depressed market for team sales, or make an offer that Rosenbloom and Rodriguez thought was too low.

At one point in the last 24 months, the value of the Rams was placed at over $900 million. Since then, the Miami Dolphins were sold for $1.1 billion, but that purchase also involved stadium rights and land around the stadium. Last September, a restructuring of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ ownership resulted in a team value of $800 million.

This comes in a difficult economy and with a looming impasse between the league and players association that could result in a lockout in 2011. It certainly hasn’t been the best of time to sell a football team, especially when Rosenbloom and Rodriguez are paying interest on the estate tax they will eventually have to pay following the death of Georgia Frontiere. Kroenke’s strategy was to let others low-ball them, which several did with offers that would put the value of the team at less than $700 million.
Now, with the price established of $450 million for 60 percent, which translates to a $750 million total value, Kroenke knew he had a relative bargain.

He just had to figure out a way to make it happen. We’ll find out soon enough how he plans to pull it off. But, one thing is certain: E. Stanley Kroenke usually gets what he wants.

I think this is the best thing to happen to the Rams franchise ever since Kurt Warner left. I hope this keeps the Rams in STL because it is amazing market there and really shouldn't be 4 teams in Cali (3 is enough.)